Jamie Noble Frier Shares Secrets of Horror Book Cover Design

Jamie Noble Frier is a digital artist based in Sussex, England. Specialising in fantasy and sci-fi art, Jamie produced artwork for multiple industries including literature, board games, video games and music. You might remember his fantastic series of seasonal horror cards, which we featured in our Christmas magazine.

Jamie has recently worked on several horror related projects, creating covers for a selection of dark novels. Below, he shares his thoughts on each of the covers, and takes us behind the creation of artwork for horror books.

S.C. Parris: The Dark World Series

S.C. Parris is the author of The Dark World series (Permuted Press, 2016), and attends University on Long Island, NY.

The Dark World series is an epic dark fantasy hexalogy (6-book series) set in 17th Century, London England, where Vampire, Lycan, and other mythical Creatures live and war.

They are available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and wherever books are sold.

From the artist:“I’ve worked with S.C. Parris on several world building pieces for her vampire series, including these two portraits. I was given some character descriptions, both physical and mental, which was great to get a feel for the expressions they should be showing. Although very different, with Eleanor looking sultry, and Xavier looking more serious, both give off a “don’t mess with me unless you want to be a snack” vibe. I really like the the colour palettes for these, the blueish hue in the background of Eleanor really brings out the slightly deceased look of her skin!”

Dave Farmer: The Range, The Bloodwalker Legacy

Author Dave Farmer describes himself; “By day I’m a mild-mannered HR advisor, but by night I seek adventure and excitement as I craft “what-if” stories.”

“Book description – ‘Set in England, against an apocalyptic background, the central theme of The Range is of friendship and courage.'”

From the artist: “Dave’s brief was a lot of fun to work with. He wanted to the feeling of forlorn hope, as the infected overrun the bastion our heroes of created. The use of light in this piece really makes it for me. The feeling of the infected rushing through the headlights gives an added desperate feeling, and the main character is highlighted by her silhouette against the moonlight. Adding the infected characters at the foreground gave really nice contrasting tones to push the depth but also allowed me to get a bit creative with their savage expressions!”

Judy Teel: The Dunn In series

Judy Teel is an Amazon best selling fiction author writing in the dystopian urban fantasy genre. The Dunn In series is made up of thriller/mystery novels set in the paranormal dystopian world of Shifty Magic.

‘What happens when an inter-dimensional being is downgraded to human and has to pay for his transgressions by secretly solving paranormal crimes? Brushes with death, unapologetic law breaking, and frequent bouts of crankiness of course!’

Dunn Cursed is the first book in this new series and will be out in early 2018.

From the artist: “Judy gave me the awesome job of designing a creature which is described as “terrifying”. As the Dunn In series is set in a dystopian mystery-steampunk kind of world, I wanted it to seem like the kind of Victorian version of Godzilla, but instead of all out destruction, it stalks the streets at night dimly lit by the moon’s haze. I listened to a lot of HP Lovecraft audiobooks while painting this, while at the same time playing the board game Eldritch Horror across several evenings. I feel like that vibe came across in the eerie greens of the piece, and the gargantuan nature of the creature.”